


And I’m so Dizzy (don’t Know What Hit me) but I’ll Be Alright

by Laisaxrem



Series: This is Us (english version) [11]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Bonding, Gen, Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi, Short One Shot, shogi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27161264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laisaxrem/pseuds/Laisaxrem
Summary: Shikamaru and Kakashi begin to build a friendship by thinking back to Asuma.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Nara Shikamaru
Series: This is Us (english version) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976788
Kudos: 23





	And I’m so Dizzy (don’t Know What Hit me) but I’ll Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [And I’m so Dizzy (don’t Know What Hit me) but I’ll Be Alright](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27085480) by [Laisaxrem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laisaxrem/pseuds/Laisaxrem). 



> First of all I apologize for the huge grammar errors. English is not really my forte and I kept these translations on the drive for a long time before I decided to publish them (and yes, I got help from Google too).  
> Btw.
> 
> DATE: Friday, 22nd January 1681  
> TITLE: All of Me - John Legend

It was a particularly cold day in Konoha, and Shikamaru had arrived at the office much earlier than usual to carry out urgent correspondence regarding the ongoing ANBU mission. He was somewhat surprised to find the Hokage in the chair at that time. Not that Kakashi was a lazy Hokage (surprisingly, in fact, it was the exact opposite), but he knew that the man had only returned home after midnight and it was not even six in the morning when Shikamaru had arrived at the palace.

He understood Kakashi’s urgency, really; the joint mission with Suna was a tremendous risk and, in the event of failure, could plunge the Alliance into a new war. But he also had to take care of himself or he would collapse.

And in fact that morning the work had gone slowly so, after lunch, Shikamaru made a decision and made a quick trip to his house. When he returned he marched straight to the office and closed the door behind him before dropping his portable shōgi set on the desk, and when Kakashi realized there were no more papers to read, he eyed him curiously and raised an eyebrow.

«You play shōgi, Kakashi-sensei, right?» A nod of agreement. «Good». And Shikamaru began placing the pieces on the shōgiban.

«What are you doing?»

«I’m preparing it. Now you and I will play a game».

«It’s only early afternoon. We have work to do», protested the Hokage as he cast a worried glance at the pile of papers waiting for his attention.

«It took you all morning to do something that usually you would have done in an hour», the young man said, continuing to put the pieces in their places. «You need a break».

«I can read one of my books…»

Shikamaru could not help himself and rolled his eyes. That man would send him to the asylum sooner or later, he was sure. And to think that it was he who had offered himself as an assistant, and all because of that stupid Naruto.

«You could. But the shōgi is more constructive, it sharpens the mind».

«Have you ever read one of the _Icha Icha_ , Shikamaru-kun? Because if you had done it, you wouldn’t –»

«I have read them. All of them», he informed him flatly. Here is another conversation that he would have preferred to avoid. How was it possible that with Kakashi it always ended up like this? His ability to drag him into territories he usually kept away from was disconcerting. A real drag. «When I was sixteen. I wanted to understand why a ninja as skilled as you were obsessed with it».

«And did you understand?» the Hokage asked, his eyes smiling.

«I think so. Choose», he said, presenting his clenched fists.

The man did not bother to argue again and obeyed. Gyokushō. Good. Shikamaru preferred to be the oshō, it was more suited to his style of play. They both placed their king on the table and the young man waited for his opponent’s move. That did not come.

«I haven’t played shōgi for years», Kakashi explained, his eyes folded in an expression halfway between nostalgic and melancholy.

«You used to play with Asuma, right?»

His sensei had mentioned this to him perhaps a couple of times, when he was a young genin, and Shikamaru had dismissed the information as not useful. Then when Asuma was dead and Kakashi accompanied him and his teammates on their mission of revenge, he dug up all the little information his sensei had given him about the Copy-Nin and the fact that the two had played shōgi together had assumed a new meaning. It was after the deaths of Kakuzu and Hidan (though that one might be considered dead, at least) that Shikamaru became interested in Kakashi, his past, his abilities, his relationship with Asuma and Kurenai and yes, his passion for _Icha Icha_ too. By the end of his research his respect for the shinobi had increased exponentially and he had decided that he could trust Kakashi as much as his sensei had. It had been strange for the young man to understand that there was an adult in the world besides his father and Asuma who inspired him with confidence and was willing to follow. It had been strange but also beautiful and somehow it had been a relief, especially now that his father was dead too.

«Yeah. He wasn’t very good but he liked to try», Kakashi said, slightly shaking his head, his eyes folded in a happy expression.

«No, he wasn’t good at all», Shikamaru agreed with a smile.

It had been four years since his sensei had died, and although it still hurt to think of him, it was no longer like getting a kunai straight into his heart every time someone talked about him. Seeing him again during the War, having to fight him, had been one of the worst experiences in Shikamaru’s short life; but he had overcome it, and on the one hand it had also helped him to make peace with himself, to close that chapter forever while continuing to keep the memory in his heart.

«So let’s get started?» he asked, scanning the Hokage.

«Let’s start».

* * *

Half an hour later Shikamaru stared at the shōgiban with wide eyes.

«I lost…»

«Mmm. It seems so», Kakashi said, complacency (and amazement) evident in his eyes. «Maybe I wasn’t as rusty as I thought, after all».

«I’ve never lost at shōgi», Shikamaru whispered, his mind quickly retracing all the steps of the game to understand where he had gone wrong, where exactly Rokudaime had had the game in hand. «Except against my father».

«He was the one who taught me to play». Kakashi’s soft words caught his attention and he raised his head to stare at him forcing himself to take his mind off the game just ended. «Shikaku came to me a few days after Minato-sensei’s funeral and as the commander of the jōnins ordered me to report to his house that evening. I was expecting the firing squad», he chuckled (and the hand flew to absently touch his left collarbone and a part of Shikamaru filed the gesture in his mind to analyse it calmly later), «and instead I found a manual eight centimetres high and a set of shōgi and the order to learn the rules by the following evening».

«Typical of my father».

«Yeah. From that day on, I received the order to come to your home every Wednesday evening, if I was not on a mission. Those evenings helped me a lot… at least while they lasted».

Silence fell between the two men, both lost in their own thoughts, as they began to rearrange the shōgiban (and Shikamaru also added this information to his mnemonic archive with the intention of asking his mother something about that period).

«I know that Asuma told you about the meaning of the King if you compare the pieces of the shōgi to the Village», Kakashi suddenly said, his voice low, grey eyes distant. «It’s a question Shikaku asked me many years ago and I repeated it to Asuma when I finally understood it».

Shikamaru froze.

«Maybe it will seem strange to you hear it from me, but you should know that they are proud of you, of the man you are becoming, as much as I am».

Shikamaru closed his eyes, the faces of his father and his sensei flashing through his mind. It hurt to know that they weren’t there to see how far he had come and especially where he was going, and part of him wanted to tell Kakashi to shut his mouth. But the reality was that those words had struck him deeply because inside he knew they were true, and hearing them spoken so calmly was a balm for his soul.

So he smiled a little and picked up the shōgiban and the bag with the pieces and got up.

«Sentimental. It doesn’t suit you. What a drag», he said with a half-smile. «And now get back to work, the break is over».

«Yes sir».

**Author's Note:**

> I think that working closely together as Kakashi and Shikamaru do inevitably creates a certain intimacy and friendship; I think there was a strong affection between Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai and that Kakashi suffered a lot from Asuma's death; I think Asuma deserved more (I still cry if I rewatch/reread that part of the story, I confess); and I think that Kakashi's intelligence is often underestimated to emphasize only his fighting skills (I am convinced that Shikamaru is more brilliant than Kakashi, but I also think that he is skilled enough to be able to beat Shikamaru at shōgi every now and then... let's say a 40:60 for Shikamaru).  
> That said, will there be more shōgi games? Oh yes, definitely yes. In short, Shikamaru is among my favorite characters and I think that he and Kakashi are similar in many ways, so expect a development in their friendship.


End file.
